I glance between the seat and him, "It's okay, I don't want to intrude."
He raises his eyebrows, "My bad, I thought you enjoyed my company."
"No, I do!" I utter hurriedly. His face breaks into a smile as I fiddle with my purse, "I just thought I was disturbing you. I guess not."
I take the seat in front of his, watching his smile grow. I look away feeling conscious and pretend to search something in my purse. After wasting another minute, I look up with a small smile. Jace has his laptop on the side as he types something on it and looks back at me.
"You came back. Any particular reason?" His lip quirks up playfully.
Is he flirting? Only one way to find out.
"I liked the coffee and the deserts were delicious." I take a pause and continue, "And I had some good company."
He blinks and tries to hide his smile, "Hmm, I wonder who that could be?"
"A really nice man who did not make me feel like an idiot, even when I spilled my coffee on him." I play along.
He nods confident, "Seems like a very good man."
"I bet he is." I say without skipping a beat staring right into his eyes.
He stares right back with such intensity that I almost look away. The smell of fresh coffee makes us blink and glance at the waiter putting down our order on the table. Both of us give him a smile as he leaves.
We silently sip our coffees for a while, before Jace breaks the silence, "We couldn't complete our conversation yesterday. You were telling me where you work?"
I push my spoon in the tiramisu I ordered and hesitate before answering. I contemplate telling him the whole truth as my last name has always had an impact on my relationships. Not saying they were to blame, but my last name has either made people act differently with me or completely get intimidated and avoid me. And I want neither of that with him.
"Um, as I told, I just graduated and now I work at Davis and co." I half lie.
His eyes widen as his fingers halt around his cup, "Interesting."
Oh my god. Did he recognizes me?
But that's unlikely, I have rarely been in the public eye since high school. Dad had made sure of it, since what happened with Lilah. If he has though, will he treat me differently? Is he like everyone else?
Before he can say anything I ask, "What about you? What do you do?"
He purses his lips and takes a moment before answering, "I work at Romano and co."
My eyebrows shoot up in surprise. Now, everything makes perfect sense. The relation between Davis and Romano is obviously not hidden from their employees. God, what were the chances? How did I bump into the person who works at our rival's company out of hundreds I come across every day.
"What a small world!" I blurt out in disbelief.
He gives a forced chuckle, "Yeah, this is kind of awkward."
I fidget with my hands and bite my lip. We both avoid each other's eyes and sit in silence for a couple of minutes. Honestly, I should've seen this coming; not him working at Romano's but the fact that I will never have my last name being the obstacle in my relationships. Well, here it is, the one guy I had remotely been interested after ages, probably wants to tell me to get up and leave.
"Do you hate me now?" I decide to cut the silence.
He frowns, "What?", he shakes his head and continues, "Of course not! That would be ridiculous. Why? Do you hate me?"
"No! Honestly, that sounds a little dumb. Hating someone just because they are your competition." I reply back.
"Exactly. I don't think it should matter." He says leaning back and relaxing his shoulders.
"Yeah. I'm sorry I impulsively asked that question. But seriously, what were the odds?" I say a little embarrassed.
He shrugs, "The universe really wants to test us sometimes."
I nod and look away. I busy myself with my dessert as he works on his laptop. The silence at our table grows amongst the bustling café. I avoid looking up, sensing the awkwardness lingering in the air.
I hear shuffling from his end, "So, you grew up in New York?"
I bring my gaze to his and watch him confidently leaning back with his laptop now shut. At least one of us is trying, I might as well get passed the sole fact that we belong to rival companies. I breathe in lightly and give him a small smile.
"Yeah, born here, went to Harvard for college, came back and plan to stay here." I say leaning back as well.
His eyebrows, "Harvard, impressive."
"What about you?" I question.
He sips his coffee and answers, "Same, been in New York all my life except for college; I went to Stanford. That was a while ago though."
I gape at him, "You went to Stanford. Now, that is impressive."
He shrugs trying to hide his smile, almost blushing if I may boldly assume. "You studied business, right?"
"Yeah, I assume you too?" He nods in return. "Do you like your job?" I ask playfully.
He smiles mischievously, "Well, depends on who's asking? Is it working for the rivals Gianna or is it bumped into me in the coffee shop Gianna?"
I lean my forward resting on elbows on the table, "How about, working for the rivals who bumped into you in the coffee shop Gianna? You can't have one without the other."
He mirrored my position with a small smile on his face, "Then I would say, I really enjoy my job."
"You don't have to lie. I know you secretly wish to work for Davis and co." I stage whisper.
He chuckles and shakes his head, "Oh trust me on this, not in my wildest dreams."
I scrunch my eyebrows, "It's not that bad."
"Maybe", he smirks, "The company though; I certainly wouldn't mind."
I fight the urge to look away, feeling my cheeks burning and I decide to change the topic, "How long have you been working there?"
He squints as he thinks for a moment, "Technically, for about five years."
I frown in confusion, "What do you mean technically."
His smile flatters but he replies instantly, "I was kind of interning there before so…"
My confusion stays even after he answers. How could he intern all the way from Stanford? Unless, he has personal connections. He probably has a rich background as well. That shouldn't concern me though.
I shake off my thoughts and ask, "How old are you? If you don't mind me asking?"
"I'll be turning 27 in August." He replies.
I try to hide my surprise and bite my lip. He doesn't look that old but he also kind of fits right in that age. I don't know how to explain this but I wouldn't have guessed he is older than 25 but now that I think of it, it makes total sense that he is 27. He is just five years older than me, for me that is genuinely not a big gap. I'll be turning the same age in five years somehow scares me.
"Don't give me that look", he says defensively, "I'm not that old."
I shake my head and say hurriedly, "No, it's not that. I'm just wondering how I'm so close to that age and it's just so surreal. It feels like last month when I went to my first class in college. It is not the age it is about…."
"The things that come with age." He gives the perfect words to complete me, that I couldn't find. "Trust me, it is not as hard unless we make it to be. You know the difference between teens and adults is that we tend to rush, like a lot. But sometimes, it is okay to stop, to rest, to find peace. You owe it to yourself. Honestly, being 27 is just like being 17 with more responsibilities, maturity and experience. And it is on us to use that to our advantage."
A slow smile lights up my face unconsciously, "You seem to be very content with your life."
He licks his lip and looks deep in thought, "I firmly believe, content changes with time." He nods at the table, "But yeah, right now, right here, I'm very content with my life." He raises his coffee mug and brings it forward, "To being content in the moment?"
I glance between the mug and his eyes, gleaming with nothing but life. Something tells me he battles with his own problems once in a while but it never deters that life in his eyes. I think about how I've always dwelled over my past and its problems and never seem to get over it. For once though, I feel like I shouldn't let it consume me and simply rest.
My smile doesn't leave my face as I clink my mug against his, "To being content in the moment."